If the Florida Gators are going to be the team that almost every men’s basketball observer thinks they will be in 2019-20, nights like this Tuesday — when the Gators play North Florida in a season opener (7 p.m., SEC Network or WatchESPN) that should be a walkover even if the Ospreys are not your usual early-season pushover — should be showcases for how good the team can be.
They should be nights when Kerry Blackshear has 15 and 10 without being pushed, when Andrew Nembhard has two or three jaw-dropping assists, when the arsenal of shooters the Gators will now bring to each contest gets white-hot for a few minutes, when Scottie Lewis — whether starting or coming off the bench as one of the nation’s most overqualified sixth men — competes with Keyontae Johnson to be simultaneously a highlight waiting to happen and a glue guy who does the dirty work of playing college basketball.